Hair comb



May 28, 1946. J. DQRKI v HAIR COMBW 4 Filed Marbh 27, 1945 My m f e h Q 3 'l h a JMMW Patented May 28, 1946 HAIR COMB John David Dorkin, Toronto, Ontario, Canada ApplicationMarchW, 1945, Serial No. 585,032

Claims.

The invention relates to improvements in comb for combing the hair. It will be well recognized that the conventional hair comb is difiicult to clean on account of its being awkward to remove the material whichis prone to accumulate in the interdental spaces.

My invention has for its primary object to provide a comb in which the teeth are pivoted for turning about their longitudinal axes so that they may be rotated-from their operative positions through a right angle to a position in which the sides lie in a common fiatwise manner wherein theyare disposed most conveniently for cleaning purposes.

A further object is to provide a comb of this character in which the pivotally mounted teeth are supplied with levers on their inner side adapted to be actuated in unison by a pusher mechanism including a slide piece on the comb frame having a locking device by which the teeth are secured in their operative position and in the cleaning position.

The invention produces a practical and serviceable comb in which the teeth can readily be cleaned whenever desired by simply turning them to render their side faces accessible for wiping the same free of material which ordinarily accumulates in the interdental spaces and is required to be removed in order to maintain the comb in a clean and sanitary condition.

With these major objects and advantages in view other objects and advantages will be obvious from the ensuing description-of the invention in which reference is made to the accompanyingdrawing which is illustrative of a prac tical form of the invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a sectional top plan view omitting certain parts but showing in a general way the manner in which the teeth of the comb are turned.

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the comb.

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the movable top piece thereof.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a side view of the comb-frame partly in section.

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the assembled comb depicting the teeth turned to the position which facilitates their being readily cleaned.

Fig. '7 is a detail in section of an end of the comb illustrating more clearly the manner of releasably locking the top piece.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of an end section of the comb with the top piece detached .to'expose the mechanism to view.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention there is provided a frame, generally denoted at II), which is a longitudinal member havingjan ordinary series of teeth projecting from its bottom edge, which may include a rigid tooth II at each end. The teeth 12 between the end teeth H are of the usual. flat shape in cross section having their edges 13 at the sides of the comb and having theirside faces l4 defining the interdental spaces. The teeth I2 have shanks l5 of a circular cross sectionby which they are individually mounted in the frame 0 for rota-l tive action for'which purpose said frame is supplied with a longitudinal series of accommodating apertures as at l6.

The shanks are provided with levers I! at their inner ends arranged at right angles to their length, each being disposed at an angle of 45 to a plane containing the axis of the respective tooth. Said levers extend in a common direction and have tactual engagement with each. other at their sides as will be best seen from an inspection of Fig. l. The levers are located in a recess l8 provided in the upper portion of said frame, said recess being open at its ends.

Fitted on the frame and enclosing the recess i8 is a top piece formed by two similar members l9, I9, which are slidably mounted for endwise movement as by means of the grooves 20 and the tongues 21 engaged therein. Each member I9 is provided with an integral pusher 22 extending inwardly from the outer end thereof and terminating in a biased cam face 23 engaged withv the lever of the extreme pivoted tooth at the corresponding end of the frame. Now, by referring to Fig. 1 it will be seen that since the levers laterally abut one another in their normally oblique positions and are confined by the pushers 22 the teeth 12 are locked against rotative action in the ordinary use of the comb.

By jointly shifting the member l9 toward the left the pushers thereof cooperate to turn the group of lever through an angle of thereby rotating the teeth thereof so that the ide faces M lie parallel to the sides of the frame. In this position of the teeth they can of course be easily cleaned, after which the members 19 can he slid reversely on the frame to restore the teeth to their combing position. The members I9 abut each other at their inner ends so that an inward movement of one of them will cause an outward movement of the other. The. open ends of the recess 18 enables the pushers 22 to enter the same in notches 26 and 21 on the respective member of the top piece. On saidmember is a depressible button 28 by which the free endof' the spring can be depressed to disengage it at will. The

button is slidably mounted and has a suitable 1 head portion for applying finger pressure. The

button is retained on the member by approved means.

Adverting particularly to Fig. 2 it will be seen that by this construction thespring. detent at' the left end of the frame is engaged with the outer notch 26 and the spring detent at the right end of the frame is engaged with the inner notch 21 at that end. In this engagement of the detents the members I9 are locked againstmovement in either direction and thus the teeth are held in normal position for use.. When it is de sired to clean the comb, the button at the left hand of the top piece is pressed to disengage the spring detent from the notch 26 thereof and at the same time the member I9 at the other end of the frame is urged inwardly, .which slides both of-these members inwardly toward the. left end. This movement turns the pivoted teeth to their cleaning position and the movement is arrested by the engagement of the detent at the left end with the notch 21. The'teeth I2 are locked in this position by the engagement of the detent at the right-hand end of the, frame with the;outer notch 26 thereat. When the teeth are cleaned it is only necessary to depress the button at the right-hand end of the top piece and inwardly urge the member I9 at the left in order to revert the teeth to their normal positions.

Preferably-the outer ends 29 of the members I9 are curved downwardly over the frame andfitted in slots 3U therein to cover the open ends of the recess I8. The outer ends 29 limit the inward movement of the members I9.

From the preceding description it will be manifest that the invention provides a comb in which difficulty of cleaning the interdental spaces of the teeth is overcome. It is not intended that the invention herein set out shall be confined to the exact. detail of construction shown and described. Such changes and modifications may be resorted to as come within the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A' hair comb comprising an elongated frame, a-series of fiat-sided teeth having shanks by which they are individually journalled in the frame in close proximity to one another, a series of contiguous levers rigidly extending from the shanks at an oblique angle to the sides of the teeth, said series of levers including extreme levers, means on said frame providing a recess which accommodates the levers, a top piece slidably mounted on said frame over said recess for movement transversely of the levers, a pusher rigid with the inner side of each end of the top piece and having a biased cam face engaged with the extreme lever at that end of the frame, and a yieldable detent device for locking the top piece to the frame. I

2. A hair comb comprising a linear frame provided with a grooved recess at its upper side and a longitudinal series of apertures extending transversely from its bottom side to its upper side, a plurality of teeth having combing edges said teeth provided with shanks by which they are rotatably mounted in said series of apertures for turning between a combing position and a cleaning position, leversron the shanks .arranged in a series to, extend extending in a common direction contiguous with one another at an oblique angle to the sides of the teeth and located insaid recess, said levers including an extreme lever at each end of the; series, apair of top members arranged end to end and having tongues bywhich they, are slidably fittedin the grooves of said recess, a, pusher on the inner-side of each top member having an inner. endengaged with the extreme lever at the respective end of the frame, and means for limiting the sliding movement of the top members and for locking them against movement.

. j 3. A hair comb as defined in claim ,1, in which the detent device comprises a fiat spring on the frame inclined inwardly of an end thereof, a pair of juxtaposed notches provided on the top piecehaving abrupt faces arranged to .be engaged by said spring to preclude outward move- .ment of the top piece, and a button on the top piece disposed to depress said spring clear of engagement with the notches. H

4. In a hair comb, a linear frame, a series of fiat-sided teeth journalled individually therein and disposedj in close proximity to one another, a contiguous series of levers obliquely. extending from. said teeth for shifting them between a combine position and a cleaning position, an elongated slide piece mounted on said frame for movement transversely of said levers, and pusher elementson theends of. said slide piece and shaped to provide cam faces between which said series of levers are confined to maintain their contiguity and to effect operational .movement thereof. V

5. A hair comb as set forth in claim 4, in which there is provided a yieldable detent device for locking the slide piece in set position in the frame.

JOHN DAVID DORKIN. 

